Search for the Forgotten
by Fleetlord Atvar
Summary: As Tamriel descends into an age of chaos, an archaeological expedition makes a ground-breaking discovery; a book detailing a long-lost kingdom predating even the Mythic Era. As the team journeys across the world in search of more evidence of this ancient land, they uncover secrets that should have remained lost...


**Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo or Bethesda, nor am I "JKalenad" whose Skyrim mod "Relics of Hyrule" this ****fan fiction is loosely based on.**

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><p><em>"Before man came to rule Tamriel, and before the chronicles of the historians recorded the affairs of the rulers of Tamriel, the events of our world are known only through myths and legends, and through the divinely inspired teachings of the Nine Divines…."<em>

-Aicantar of Shimerene, _Before the Ages of Man_

**15th of Last Seed, 4E 201**

_At the last, our work here is nearly complete. I've spent all of last night cataloguing and preparing the artifacts we've already recovered for transport back to Leyawiin, and by the Eight I'm tired. Still, there's only one chamber left in Veyond that we need to get open. We will carefully excavate any Ayleid artifacts within and take them back to the Guild Museum with us, where we can properly study them. Oh, how exciting! But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The day is still young, and the entire camp except for myself and the Nord mercenary are still asleep in their tents. I will write more when we safely arrive back in Leyawiin._

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><p>Sauriil smiled as he closed his journal and placed it beside him. As he watched the sun rise over the Niben River, he thought of all the tribulations this expedition had faced; trolls inhabiting the ruins, bad weather the first week and all that damn bureaucracy the Archaeology Guild had to go through to even get approval to excavate these ruins. Sauriil shook his head, trying to forget about those ordeals. After all, they were worth it, seeing as how this might be one of the greatest Ayleid finds in history. The expedition found hundreds of artifacts, ranging from mundane pots and clothes, to more dramatic finds like swords and even Varla Stones, and who knew what lay in the last sealed chamber.<p>

As Sauriil considered these thoughts, he heard a cough behind him. He whirled around, only to see the Nord mercenary leaning against a tree. "This is the last day we'll have to be out here, right?"

Sauriil frowned "Yes, as soon as we excavate the final chamber in Veyond, we will return to Leyawiin. We discussed this last night. Were you too intoxicated to hear me?" he said, annoyed.

The Nord cocked his head to the side. "Most likely" he answered "So, about our pay…"

Sauriil angrily looked up "You and your companion will receive the full amount the Guild agreed on as soon as the artifacts are safely stored in our Museum. I believe that is clear enough for you." he indignantly snapped.

The mercenary nodded "Yes, it is" he said "just make sure the coin is ready as soon as we get there, alright?" Then he turned, and walked back into the forest, toward the ruins and the expedition encampment.

The Altmer archaeologist rubbed his temples in frustration. "Damn mercenaries"he grumbled, "Absolutely no respect for the past and no desire to learn".Then he sighed, remembering how they were necessary in order to clear out all the Trolls and other "unpleasant" creatures inhabiting Veyond. As much as Sauriil hated to admit it, the expedition would have never been approved by the Curator if he didn't agree to hire some protection for his team.

Sighing once again, Sauriil gazed once last time across the calm waters of the Niben River toward the sun, and walked back into the woods, toward the encampment.

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><p>By the time Sauriil returned, the camp was abuzz with activity, as Mentors and their Students prepared breakfasts for themselves, cleaned off their tools and donned the Archaeology Guild's trademark dark green robes. As Sauriil straightened his own robe out, he began scanning the assembled crowd for his own Student. Almost as soon as he started looking, he heard a triumphant cry coming up behind him. "Mentor! When did you get back?"<p>

Sauriil smiled as heard the all-too familiar voice. He turned to see a brown-haired young man clad in the green robes of a Student come trotting up to him, with a brown satchel slung over each shoulder. "Good morning, Adrian, did you sleep well?" he asked.

Adrian laughed "Well, Mentor, in the four hours of sleep I was able to have after all that cataloguing and sorting of the artifacts we did last night, I think I slept pretty well". He took off one of the satchels on his shoulder and handed it to Sauriil. "I packed your tools for you while you were gone, since you were probably going to tell me to do it anyway" he said.

"Thank you, Adrian" Sauriil responded, slinging the satchel over his shoulder.

There are four ranks in the Archaeology Guild; Student, Scholar, Mentor and Curator. The Students were the newest members of the Guild, and as such, they were required to spend time learning from a Mentor as they studied and explored. They were identified by their dark green robes. Scholar was the rank most members of the Guild held as they were the main researchers and excavators who uncovered the past. They were identified by the blue trim on their green robes. Mentors (identified by the red trim on their robes) were Scholars who decided to take the next step by teaching the Students, and guiding them through the mysteries of the ancients.

Sauriil had spent over a year exploring deserted ruins and pouring over ancient relics across Cyrodiil with Adrian as his Student, and he loved the Imperial like a son. The young man had both an incredible passion for knowledge, and a great optimistic attitude. Sauriil silently thanked Auri-El frequently for providing him with such a wonderful apprentice.

Sauriil walked to the center of camp, with Adrian following close behind. The Altmer called out to the archaeologists milling around "Everyone, please report to the center of camp!"

In a few moments, the entire camp was assembled in front of Sauriil. Most of the other members of the expedition were either Imperial or Altmer, but there were a few Dunmer interspaced between the crowd. Both of the mercenaries were standing toward the back. The Nord was now wearing fur armor and had a steel sword hanging from his side and a banded iron shield on his back. His Redguard companion wore traditional Hammerfell Garb and hood, and had a crossbow hanging from his back with a large amount of bolts, as well as a scimitar hanging from his waist.

Sauriil cleared his throat and began to speak "So, as you all know, this will probably our last day out here, and as such, only a small group will open up the last chamber in Veyond. I want the rest of you to stay here and break camp, so we can get out of here as soon as possible. Understood?" The assembly nodded. "Excellent" Sauriil said, putting his hands together "I want Berich and Rolis to accompany me and my Student, along with the mercenaries, of course. The rest of you, begin taking down the tents and preparing the artifacts for transport."

The rest of the expedition grumbled as they dispersed to begin their task, while Sauriil and his group began to walk toward Veyond.


End file.
